Klaus Wu
Klaus Wu (Family Name; 吴亦凡) is a Dorvish politician, founder and current leader of the Zentrumspartei. He is the son of Konstantin Wu, the former leader of the Radikale Partei and one time State Chancellor. Early Life Wu was born in Trelin, in 4143, a year after his fathers short term as State Chancellor, he was kept away from the public light with his father wanting him to have a normal childhood. He went to an all-boys private school and sixth form. He was a keen artist in school showing no real interest in politics until his final year of Sixth Form. He joined the Radikale Partei when he was old enough, with no influence from his father as he claims, he first ran in the January 4164 Elections but failed to meet the threshold. He was successfully elected in December 4164 having been placed higher on the list. Leadership Bid Despite having been in parliament only three years, Wu ran for the leadership of the party after Rudolf Pletcher stepped down in late 4166 after poor polling. He successfully launched a platform for major reforms of the party and re branding. He went onto win the leadership, in an unexpected landslide. At the time Dorvik had undergone massive constitutional change, moving towards a Federal Republic. Many originally disapproved of Wu's plan, some claimed he was feeding off his fathers fame, Konstantin Wu, who had led the Radikale Partei for twelve years. Klaus eventually got his why with the plans being approved 74.2% to 25.8%, during the reforms Wu pulled the party out of Government forcing earlier elections which had been supported 92.4% to 7.6%. Wu stood again to lead the new party, beating four other candidates winning 47% in the first round and 66% in the second. The party began preparations for the 4167 General Election, with Wu opting to run on the Westmark List. Leadership Wu's leadership had gotten off to a shaky start with many doubting his age and experience, although his decision to work on a cross-party basis during the constitutional reforms during his time on the backbenches gave him support among the public and the membership base, allowing him to win the leadership challenge. Amongst the public he was seen as 'down to earth' and 'attractive', although 41% thought he was 'inexperienced' and would be 'incompetent as Federal Chancellor'. Following two sucessive elections were the party failed to dramatically increase their support, members of the 'Classical Liberation' faction launched a leadership challenge, Wu initially stated he had no plans to run in the challenge, however after 30 members of the PCP (Parliamentary Centre Party) encouraged him to run and polls showing he was still popular, he threw his hat back into the ring. Wu won against the challenger, Petronella Geiszler, and re-shuffled his front-bench team. His new front-bench brought in members from all wings of the party and established a new policy making forum that gave members a vote on policy, many saw this as a drift towards populism, although the leadership made it clear it was merely 'democratisation' rather than populism. The party bounced back up making a net gain of five seats, the party's low profile in the Assembly is largely put down to the dominance of the Konservative Union which oversaw the Constitutional Reforms and Dorvik's exit from the AU. The party slowly gained ground in local elections, although the growth was slight in the January election of 4176 nearly reaching the 10% mark, the closet it had been since 4164 before the party reformed into the Centre Party. The party entered the cabinet for the first time with Wu taking up the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Wenzel Schwartz taking up her brief as Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Wu announced in February that he would be stepping down with immediate affect in order to focus on his ministry and allow a fresh face to lead the party. In the midst of the leadership election the Liberal Workers Party collapsed due to poor funding, Wu was succeeded by his close ally, Frauke von der Leyen, a centrist liberal candidate.